Mine got out and was out for several weeks! I finally caught it in bed with my husband and me, at the foot of the bed (under the sheets/spread). It had been there before, in the middle of the night, and I'd wakened from a dead sleep and instantly realized what was going on but didn't catch it the first time. Don't think I could do that again these days

I had two cats too. I use to put the hamster in a really large plastic ball (meant for guinea pigs I think) and put him down on the floor to roll around the house (I lived in a huge rambler) while I cleaned his cage. It was great because when I was finished, all I had to do was look for the two cats and they'd be nearby. Before you feel bad for the hamster, the ball was large and he figured out how to run it at the cats! They'd scramble to get out of his way before he could run them over